Space Patrol Dino Thunder
by Faqa
Summary: 21 years after Mesogog's defeat, the Dino Gems are rediscovered. But the prize might very well be poisoned.
1. Rediscovery

A/N: Let's face it - The Dino Thunder/SPD teamups stunk. So, I wrote my own.  
Disclaimer applies, blah, blah. Enjoy.

* * *

It wasn't the colors, Grumm decided. Bright though they were, even had they all shone grey, the gems before him would be easily told apart. No, they whispered something to their environment, strength, protectiveness, something unique. Something to define the dinosaur each gem drew it's power from. From mighty Tyrannosauarus to protective Brontosaurus to deadly Dragosaur, they roared their identity for all to hear.

Yes, there was no doubt. These were Dino Gems indeed, the power source of the fabled Dino Thunder Rangers. They who had protected Reefside from the equally fabled Mesagog. If the exploits of that bit of struggle were not the equal of the mighty Angel Grove teams, they were close enough. Both Power AND Ranger had been remarkable in every sense of the word. _Would that I could find the original wielders of these things. They would not escape MY mind control._

But, he could not, and without them, the gems were no more than pretty ornaments. _Though I wager Broodwing could still find a buyer for them_. His pet weapons dealer was adept at his job, and could probably have sold water to Aquitans for a good price. But no. He had better means to acquire the power he needed. All that was necessary was to make sure no one else used these gems either. If the wretched SPD, with their superior resources, got their hands on these, they could make his life miserable indeed. And they'd certainly find them, now that he'd uncovered them.

"Emperor?" a voice softly interrupted from behind him.

Grumm did not have to turn to know who that voice belonged to. Morgana, his second-in-command, feared throughout the galaxy for her ferocity and prowess. Champion of the Onyx Gladiator Games, scourge of the Mak, destroyer of the Blue Senturions(aside from the few that had taken shelter on Earth). Most frightening of all, no one could place an age to her, nor a history. Some whispered she'd been forged by the Grid to fight for their side, a compensation for the great losses Zordon of Eltar had inflicted on them nigh-on 30 years ago.

The Patellen warlord knew better. Morgana fought fiercely, this much was true. But her passion didn't come from bloodlust. She was no hardened warrior woman. Her strength came from fear, desperation and childish single-mindedness. Quite literally childish… for that was what she was. A child trapped in an adult's body. He didn't know how, or why, but that was what she had been, ever since that day 20 years ago in the Mystic Forest where he'd found her, defending some magical trinket he'd been after. And by "defending", that meant attacking anyone in the area, shrieking "This is MY place, you can't come here!". She'd been intriguing enough to keep alive. In the one act of kindness history would probably ever write for Warlord Grumm, he'd later given her the physical body to match her age. It gave him a companion as well as a magical assistant. _I'm sorry, Morgana, that I had to turn you back. But there was need._ He would return her back to normal at some point. He would. But right now, he needed her too badly.

"Emperor? The Blueheads have set up a perimeter around the site. Shall we prepare these for transport?". "No.", Grumm growled. "We can take them, Morgana, but what could we do with them?"

"USE them, of course! Find a way to power them, create an evil team of Rangers and-"

"Yes, that has ALWAYS had a high success rate", Grumm snapped. She was the closest thing he had to a daughter, but her lack of wit outside of a street fight was annoying at times. "No, Morgana, eventually they would be turned. A touch of a Morphing Grid can often turn the worst _tokar_ into a righteous fool.". Not true, as he had proven with the A-Squad, but the girl was extremely stubborn when coming up against the word "can't". Which applied very well to utilizing these gems. "Besides… why go to the trouble of creating malice? Simple pride and ignorance should suffice."

Morgana looked puzzled. Grumm laughed, as he realized exactly how much trouble this was going to make. His staff glowed in preparation for the… very simple spell.

Oh, this would be sweet.

* * *

"Commander?", Sydney Drew yelled across the dig site. "Workers think they've found them". The Sirian turned at that from his examining of one of the outer dig points. "Are the power sources accessible?", Commander Cruger asked, with his usual quiet dignity.

"They look almost completely uncovered from here. Initial scans turn up no sign of radiation", Syd replied. Of course, nonetheless, Cruger insisted that it be the B-Squad who moved in to acquire them. _Yeah, it's an honor to be here, but still. We've got more important stuff to do than muck around in the dirt._

"B-Squad, in line!", Jack Landors yelled from behind her. The SPD Red Ranger was enjoying himself a bit more than the rest of them, here. As Sky was wont to remind her, he never HAD taken their Academy work seriously. "Very good, Cadet Landors", Cruger growled once they were all assembled. "Now remember – go in, pick them up, and move out. Don't touch anything, don't stay to look around. I just want the Ranger-related stuff out of sight before proper excavations begin."

"Sir? When you say Ranger-related, wouldn't that mean Grid related? I mean, everyone says Rangers ARE the Grid, so you'd really have to connect it that way. Except maybe the Grid IS the Ranger. In which case it might really be Ranger-related. Then, what if-"

"CARSON!", the Commander snapped. Their Green Ranger's oddball qualities were endearing, but required a brand of patience the Shadow Ranger had never learned.

"Sorry, sir.", Bridge meekly shut up. Though Syd was willing to bet he still had no idea what was so grating about his questions.

"Any RELEVANT questions?", Cruger snapped. "Good. Now move out. I want these things on Dr Manx's desk by the end of the day".

* * *

Such small things to make a fuss over. _Who'd think you could support a team of Rangers off shiny gems?_

To Sky Tate's eye, the five objects sitting in the lab bore little resemblance to anything related to Rangerhood. Large reactors, needing constant maintenance, detailed schematics of how to get the maximum yield from every drop of power, these were the stuff of Rangerhood. The magical Ranger teams were gone, if they'd ever existed.

"Any results, Kat?", he asked of the feline scientist. If there was anything to be found on them, she'd find it. The Selinian refugee had earned her reputation as quite possibly the sharpest analyst in the galaxy. What Cruger had done to get her working for SPD instead of a thousand eager companies offering ten times her current salary, Sky didn't know.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. The gems are nearly inert, but I've managed to match their small power signal with that of something in the archives". Kat hit a button, bringing up a display Sky remembered very well. Five uniforms, colored-and-white diamonds patterning with a weird insignia on the chest. The Dino Thunder team. One of the more remarkable teams of the pre-Ranger Act times. Freelancers, operating with no order or recognition, and yet very capable. He couldn't recall much – it had been a long time since Ranger History class.

"KAT!", a yell pierced the usual quiet order of the lab. "KAT! I've found the element you wanted! It's got a-", Boom, Kat's assistant, cut off abruptly as Sky glared at him. Would this oaf NEVER learn proper decorum?

"Uh… sorry, sir. Kat! I've isolated the Cressic element in the gems, and I think I've found some REALLY cool stuff", the SPD washout said in a slightly calmer tone.

"Slow down, Boom. I told you to isolate the Preenlian element.", Kat replied gently. Of course. The man was hopelessly absent-minded as well.

"Uh… yeah. But, see, this was quicker, and I THINK… I'm not sure but I think I've found the uh, battery, if you will, of the gems. They seem to recharge themselves for the most part, assuming you don't burn them out entirely."

"OK", Kat nodded. "That's common enough among Ranger powers dating from before Lightspeed", she explained to Sky. Made sense, considering how long some of those had stayed working. "THAT got you into such a tizzy?", the woman frowned. "Boom, you should know better."

"Uh, no, see, the battery is still WORKING in these things. It was just, uh, knocked out of, um, alignment, by whatever took the Dino Rangers out. So we could, um, theoretically, recharge them ourselves. I mean, it's pretty simple to channel the energy from the gems through a Protonic node, and we can redirect it to-"

Kat put up a hand to forestall him. "Yes, the standard Cranstonian method. VERY interesting, Boom. What about breaking the lockdown?"

"Lockdown?", Sky interrupted. Maybe they'd be getting a new Ranger team out of this.

"Yes, we can recharge the gems, and making morphers to channel their energy should be pretty simple, but the energy won't flow properly out of the gem. Tests show it refuses to complete a circuit with any of our equipment.", Kat explained. "We'll find a way around it, don't worry".

"I never worry", Sky grinned. Certainly not when Ranger powers were in the offing.

"Except about rules", he heard Boom mutter as he walked out, leaving the two scientists to their technical discussion. Sky ignored him. Commander Cruger was going to love this bit of news.

* * *

"_Do it, Conner!"_,_ Trent yelled from beside him._ _In front of the team, the four Meso-monsters stood waiting, confident in their victory. As well they might be, after shrugging off his best Battlizer shot. There was really no choice. They just had to pray their combined energy would be enough to put an end to the damn things._

_And yet… that much raw power. It could turn them to ashes if he fumbled. No. No choice. He signaled the team. To HIS team._

"_POWER RANGERS!", the Dino Thunder team roared. Each one opened their Dino Gem's energy, channeling it into one conduit. Him. "I summon the power of the Gem!", he declared, desperately trying to keep a hold on all the energy._

_Aim… aim… RELEASE! With a sudden effort, he hurled the combined energy of five Rangers at the twisted things in front of him. It was an effort to allow it to keep flowing without losing control. The Meso-monsters snarled, resisting the blasts. The power was beginning to burn now._

_No. Falter, and they were gone. Keep… flowing. Suddenly, Conner's heart leapt as he saw the monsters begin to fall. Keep… DONE! The monsters had fallen. They'd won!_

_Carefully, Conner attempted to close the flow of energy. No good. It wasn't going back, it was flowing harder! It was then that Conner realized he'd lost his concentration on holding the energy._

_No. The energy blew out of his control, enveloping the team in a sudden blast while continuing to drain them. Frantically, Conner clawed to at least close his own gem's flow. He felt the power beginning to recede from him, felt the suit fading…_

_Ripping away from him. The Power was gone. _

_Pain. _

_Darkness._

With a sudden gasp, Conner McKnight woke up, sweating. Crap. He'd thought the dream would at least have the decency to stop, 21 years after the fact. _Isn't it enough that it still haunts me during the day?_

With a sigh, he looked around the dingy apartment, looking for his sleeping pills. Nightmares he could have, but work was work, and you couldn't coach on no sleep. Well, you could, but it wouldn't do your reputation any good. Not that his was sterling, anyway.

Groping next to his nightstand, he found something resembling a pill bottle. Tonguing a few of the things down, he wondered precisely when it had come to this. A thirty-five year old man, coaching whiny brats in a dingy community center, no family, no purpose, and no sleep either, as of late.

It had all seemed so hopeful back then, after high school. How hard could college be, after kicking alien butt? But then, he found how hard it was to give up the lifestyle. How hard it was to feel alive without the incredible awareness and power of the Tyrannosaurus. It all just seemed so… meaningless, somehow. And slowly, his failure on that day had begun to haunt him. _If I'd been stronger… if I hadn't lost control… _

If he hadn't slipped, hadn't let the flow get out of hand. Not that he could have, Dr. O had assured him. The energy was like water, it couldn't be stopped up once released. Not that that mattered. _I was a Ranger, I should've found a way._

He shook his head, disgusted with himself. Stewing for two decades over this. What had been making him so damn RESTLESS lately? Over the past week, every carefully buried regret and wish had come bursting out. _Leave the past where it belongs. It's over._

Wait. That wasn't just stewing, he now realized. He FELT the lack more, felt the lack of power more than he had since the day they'd defeated Mesogog. The hunger, the hole he'd felt then, was back. As though… Conner carefully probed his own feelings. But different. Not like it had been back then but like it had been…

A little before, when they'd given Mesogog the gems temporarily. As though his gem was not gone, just lost.

_That's it. I've cracked. I'm starting to imagine things. Starting to imagine it's back._

But just to be sure… the former Red Ranger tentatively began to concentrate on his speed-running ability. It was, of course gone with the Gems. This was ridic-

Suddenly, he found himself flying forward into one of his walls. He managed to stop himself a hair short of a broken nose. He tried again, this time tripping over the bed as he hit it.

Again. And again. He sped around his entire apartment.

_How?_

_How?_

Right now, he didn't care. He felt alive again, as he hadn't been since… well, forever.

Ignoring the sleeping pills beginning to take effect, he stumbled over to his phone, speed-dialing the first number on it.

"Conner?", a sleepy middle-aged voice grunted into the receiver.

"Dr. O. It's back. We gotta get the others".

* * *


	2. Resurrection

A/N: Mainly a chapter to catch up on the other DT Rangers. Thanks for the reviews so far! 

_You gave me somethin' more…than, I ever felt before_

_We could be fallin' in love… oh, baby…_

A yellow-clad woman softly sang, strumming the tune on her guitar. How long had it been since she'd had cause to actually use the thing for an audience? Five years? Yeah, that was about right. It was all very well to talk about the romance of being an artistic singer, but hunger pangs could shatter that one real quick. Cat litter jingles had seemed so amusing a year into her career.

Five years in, they were less than funny. By ten, they were just depressingly routine.

The really funny thing? Kira Ford hated cats. Yeah, real funny. _I'll probably die laughing at that one._ The mighty Dino Thunder Yellow Ranger, high school prom star. Reduced to singing in commercials and waitressing. _Of all the people to burn out on high school dreams, I never thought it would be me_, Kira thought bitterly, which was her usual mood nowadays.

What had happened? Where had it all gone wrong? When had the girl, full of hope and talent, fallen into a pit of mediocrity and sullenness? When had the record labels swirling before her eyes been changed into food stamps? When had the _life_(so defining of her in high school) gone out?

She would have liked to blame it on her Ranger career. Her Power loss. And heck, the depression that had come with loss of her Ranger powers had probably not helped. But she wasn't going to foist her problems off on a yellow gem's glow. No, she had crashed her career. Crashed it by starting it, crashed by thinking she had any talent. Hey, she'd saved the world, wooed her high school with her skills. Fame and fortune were just a step away, right?

_And so she ends… Kira Ford. Strumming a guitar, reliving high school dreams._

For the thousandth time, she considered giving up. Trying college again. Trying to get a decent job, accepting her lack of talent. Except that that really WOULD be the end. Admitting she'd wasted the best part of her life on a dead end, that her last worthwhile act had been done in yellow spandex.

_You want to start cutting yourself, too, Ford?_ She'd heard some dumb kids were bringing that habit back into style. She shook her head. Enough stewing. Tomorrow, she was DEFINITELY going to look into that gig down at the "After Dark". She would. And then-

Kira Ford turned around at the sound of her doorbell. It was the middle of the night, who would call up a pathetic has-been like her at such an hour? _Enough_, she sternly warned her self-deprecation. _If it's those two morons from across the hall…_Well, one thing Kira HAD kept up from the old days was her martial arts training. She picked her way across the debris on the floor to open the door, which revealed…

"Trent?"

The white-clad man smiled at her. "Hey, Kira". Trent Mercer, the only member of their little clique to come out on top in life. His father had early on left the running of Mercer Industries to him, and Trent had enjoyed the life of a rich businessman ever since. Though now that Kira looked at him, he didn't look that great either. Dark circles under his eyes, a tired pose. Yeah, he was in the same hole as the rest of them. Just with more money.

"How long has it been? Two years?", Kira asked. "Yeah, that sounds about right. At the, um, new plant opening where Hayley's used to be". Kira winced at that. It had not been an easy decision for Trent, and he'd consulted them about it. Hayley had been long gone, in New York, but the place had sentimental value, as well as the land's monetary value. But, they'd all agreed, that maybe burying the past would help. Not that it had, or anything, but it had been a thought at the time.

Trent ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry about that. It was a mistake to do it. I guess…". Kira held a hand up. "We all did. Never mind that now. It's 1 am. Was seeing the old war comrade so important?". "Uh… Believe it or not Kira, yes. Have you been feeling… different lately?".

Different? Especially depressed, maybe, but since when was that new? In a life of….

Stop that. Enough.

"What do you mean?"

"Like… feeling the loss more?"

Well, if he put it that way…. Yeah, that might be her latest melancholy fit.

"Maybe. Why?"

Trent gave her a rakish grin, the kind that had been so endearing back in high school. He then backed up against the wall of her apartment… and disappeared. "Trent!", Kira yelped. Before she could even panic, though, he'd reappeared, his grin broader. What? "Some… new technology?", she guessed weakly. But she could see what he meant. Wetting her lips, she closed the door, faced an old ornament she'd been meaning to get rid of…

And screamed. Screamed the scream of the Ptera Ranger. And for the first time in over two decades…. it was truly that. A yellow wave erupted from her mouth, shattering the ornament and the shelf behind it. Oops.

"W-w-what?", Kira stammered weakly. "But it's… gone. That day…". Trent pressed a finger to her lips. "I know. Conner called me a few days ago with the same revelation. But…. The Gems seem to be back. We don't know how, we don't know why. But they're back".

For the first time in a very long time Kira Ford smiled, the expression taking years off her face. "And so are we".

* * *

"What do you mean, you're _leaving_!", the man in front of him said incredulously. "James, you came in, you BEGGED for this job. Said you needed it. Now a month in, and you want to _leave?_".

Ethan James regarded the man in front of. Yeah, he supposed it didn't make sense. He didn't really care. "You could just grant me a leave of absence instead. I wouldn't mind. But I need to take off for a while, either way". Which was perfectly true. "No, James, not without a good reason. And you refuse to give me one at all!", his boss replied, still disbelieving. _Uh, let's see. I need to go to Newtech City to get my old Ranger power back, since I've been feeling its lack for twenty years. Oh, yeah, Boss, didn't I tell you? I was a Power Ranger._ Yeah, that was great. AA would get back on his ass for drinking in the middle of the day for that one.

"Look… I can't explain it. But I need to leave", Ethan tried one last time. Mr. Reinhart was unmoved. "You have until you leave my office, James, to go back on that. Afterwards, this firm and my favors are closed to you. Your last chance, you called this job. You want to throw it away for some reason you won't even explain? Fine. Don't come crawling back later".

The former Blue Ranger got up. He slowly, steadily, walked out the door, ignoring his boss's final calls. _Scratch another job off the list._ Though he supposed this was the first time his Ranger past had been so directly responsible for it. Usually, it was a bit less blatant. He'd be discovered in some unsavoury activity, or show up for work drunk, or just walk out, run away. And there'd always be some short-term reason for it. Only he knew the long term reason. The emptiness. The hole he'd been carrying inside him ever since high school. A hole about the size of a Triceratops horn.

"Taxi!", he yelled, flagging one down. He'd get home, he'd pack a bag and run. But this time, it wouldn't be away. It would be towards. Towards a new life, towards being alive again. Towards the Blue Dino Gem. _This is moronic._ If he had even a gram of sense left in him, he'd turn this cab around and beg Mr. Reinhart to allow him to recant. He would work hard, try to get a semblance of a normal life, and forget the past. Except that he'd been trying that for most of life without success.

Every failure, every relapse into alcohol, every stupid descent into seedy districts, every time his savings account went untouched in order to invest money in a short-term excitement, he seemed to see an image. A teenager in blue, living every day, every second.

"_We're just getting started!", he heard. Sounded like Conner over there. "Right", a voice sneered in reply. Trent's clone, that was, no doubt. Time to make an entry. Ethan gunned the afterburners on his cycle and roared forward, depressing the laser triggers as soon as Mesogog's uglies were in range._

_He grinned as the cycle moved faster than any vehicle had a right to, scattering Tyrannodrones and forcing the prime baddies to duck out of the way, singed. Two things existed at the moment – himself and the speed. Even the enemies were inconsequential, just targets to aim at. "Have no fear, Blue Ranger's here!", someone yelled. Him, Ethan realized as he left the cycle in hover mode and jumped down. "Who wants to go?", he declared, glaring at the White Ranger and the latest henchman. _

_For a moment, they looked like they were going to back down just from that. In that instant, he felt victory as his existence. In that instant, it was all that could be. Obstacles were merely instruments to demonstrate that. In that instant, Mesogog bowed to him. In that instant, nothing else presumed to even EXIST, except Ethan James._

That instant had faded, of course. Had come and gone many times in his Ranger career. But now, he realized, it was what he had lived for. The high of victory, of triumph. The Power. Without, all else was meaningless. He'd hid that from himself for a while. He supposed he should be grateful it had been long enough for him to finish his Computer Science degree, so he at least had a profession. But since then, it had all been downhill.

He'd tried to drown the hunger. He went through alcoholic programs for his trouble, but the hunger remained. He tried to drift, to seek new oblivion anywhere he could. All it bought him was a lack of roots and purpose. He'd tried knife fights, hookers, drag-racing, anything. Even the best thrills paled, failed to satisfy. Nothing could. He'd even tried to join SPD's Ranger program at one point, upon which he was informed that while a career might await him, he was "too old" for the Ranger track. That had been one of his more heartfelt resignations. But always, the hunger remained.

_And this will end the same way. You'll end up chasing false rumors, or do something _stupid_ to get hold of the gem. _He didn't care. He wanted it too badly. _I want my fix. I'm like a druggie nursing my addiction for decades. The mother of all withdrawals_. Yeah, except druggies staying clean for that long usually ceased to be druggies. A psychological addiction was harder to get rid of. A life without purpose couldn't be cured in a 12-step program.

"Hello? Saban Air? I'd like to book your next flight to Newtech City.". All the reasons in the world to stay away. One reason to go through with it, to not ignore this sudden resurgence of the Dino Gems and their powers.

An instant. An instant of purpose again, an instant of oblivion, of victory. For that he throwing his life away. Again.

_I'm a Grid addict. And it's time to shoot up._

* * *

It hadn't changed much. If at all. Considering it had been nigh-on thirty years, Tommy Oliver considered the stasis of Angel Grove's Juice Bar to be downright amazing. Same groups on the weight machines, same corner with karate classes going on, same table array, even. He grinned as he saw the guy tending the bar. Even that was the same.

"Tommy?", Ernie said incredulously from behind the bar as he approached. "That's me, Ernie", Tommy smiled at him. They'd never really kept in touch, but memories didn't fade. Of course, the man had changed. While as round as ever, Ernie too, had surrendered to age. His hair had faded to grey, and there seemed to be waiters doing most of the physical aspects of running the place. "Double veggie smoothie?", the man grinned at him.

After exchanging several minutes of conversation, Ernie bustled off. Tommy sipped at his smoothie, trying to soak up the atmosphere of the days when he'd drunk these daily. _Some drunks use alcohol. I use the past. _Why the hell did it keep coming back to bite him? No matter how much he tried, his past, his battles, kept returning. Even now, two decades after his last stint as a Ranger, he was still haunted by it. His lack of power had defined him all this time.

Why was he even here? To soak in happy high school memories? _No, to soak in the only memories of mine that apparently matter – the Ranger ones._ This was where he'd spent time with his team. Where he'd trained in martial arts that were, in the end, used for his Ranger career. Even before Rita had drafted him in, he'd been, he realized, a weapon looking for a fight. He still was. Why else had he answered Conner's summons, and was about to catch a connecting flight to Newtech City? He wanted back in.

_I run from it. I travel the world, I stay away from martial arts, heck, I get a damned PhD._ A useless one, in truth. He'd never really wanted it. He'd wanted purpose. And, at least while studying, he'd had it. Those years, between leaving the Turbo team and activating the Black Dino Gem, those had been the golden years. He was free of the Grid, free of the burden, going somewhere in life. He'd even managed to acquire a quiet, low-key teaching job. But he'd known. On some level, he'd known that it was all going to shatter. Maybe even wanted it. He could have left those three initial gems to rot. Someone else could've stopped Mesogog, could have fought. But no, he'd had to go and build morphers for the things, even!

Stupid. He'd known that. Just as it was stupid to be here right now. To admit he'd failed at running. He was past 40 now. And still only found happiness under a helmet, or in memories. _A high school loser, Oliver. One of those dumbasses who refuse to let go._ And he couldn't really listen to that. The thought of the gem was too strong. Of being a Ranger again.

Besides, what was his alternative? To return home? To write another empty article for a journal he didn't care about? To live out his existence as a burned-out academic, finding oblivion in fits of memories? Screw that. _I'll go out my way._

The black-clad scientist checked his watch. Yeah, he had time. In a few minutes, he'd walk out, make his flight. He would fly out to Newtech City, meet up with his protégés, and become Dr. Thomas Oliver PhD, Black Ranger and team mentor, again. But right now, he just wanted to sit here, observe a novice yellow-belt class and remember a teenager named Tommy.


	3. Kindling

A/N: And the friction heats up. Thanks for all the reviews!

* * *

"Five beers, was it?", the man behind the bar grunted. "Yeah, bring em' out. I see them coming", Trent Fernandez hurriedly slapped down payment for the drinks. He then turned to survey the approach of his friends. _Are we friends? Or just people with a common suffering?_ Once, that would not have been a question, but now…

Now, Trent wasn't sure of anything. Once he would have confidently said it could never have come to this. But then, once he'd never have matched the brash, swaggering Conner McKnight with the lost-looking man approaching. Once, he'd have said nothing could destroy the childish eagerness of Ethan James, nor kill Tommy Oliver's air of quiet resolve and confidence. Once… _Once, I'd have said those eyes could never belong to Kira Ford. Nothing so lifeless belonged on her._ And yet, something had done all those things. For himself, he hadn't minded so much – he'd always been something of a brooder. Not that he'd suffered less, but there was a sort of stoic quality to it. He'd never thought to really be happy. The Ranger loss was just one more thing to add to the pile.

But for the rest of the former Dino Thunder team? They'd all been prepared to take on life and win, knocking it flat. His gem had picked him for his darkness. The rest had been chosen for their greatness. Greatness of what, he didn't know, but emphatically great, and NOT the group now approaching the bar. Something WAS different though – the resigned lack of purpose he usually saw in them had been replaced. Replaced by something harder, if not necessarily better. A grim determination, like that of a man swimming for a lifeline. In a way, that might be worse, considering the lifeline.

"Trent, man. Snap out of it", Conner punched him on the shoulder in a friendly sort of a way, as the former White Drago Ranger blinked and realized his friends had seated themselves near him at the bar. "Uh… Look. Conner called this meeting, but I think we all know what can be said. We're here, in Newtech City, and we need to convince SPD to hand over the Gems". Trent had never really learned to like public speaking, however many board meetings he'd attended.

"True enough. But it might not be that simple, guys", Dr O's voice broke in. "I mean, yeah, they're ours, but SPD may not see it that way. Ranger teams don't exactly publish personnel rosters", their former teacher chuckled, as the rest of them half-laughed. "Hell yeah, Dr. O would know if anyone would", Ethan grinned a sort of maniacal grin. Trent attempted to ignore the smoker-drinker roughness that had crept into that voice. Man had come a long way from high school geek.

"Look, I've kinda stayed out of touch, but SPD are the good guys, last time I checked", Kira's would-be bright voice broke in. In a way, it was worse than the depressed tone he'd found in her that night a week ago. This tone wasn't bright. It was desperate. "We don't wanna hurt them, we just need the gems. We'll file a request, go through the bureaucracy. I'm sure if we explain the situation right, it'll be no problem. I mean, who knows the details of those Gems better than us, right?". Seemed reasonable enough, assuming SPD was pre-disposed to listen to claims. No reason they wouldn't. Of course they'd listen.

"Well then… There's no point in hanging around, is there? Let's do it!", Conner lifted his glass. He seemed to be the most normal one there. Or maybe his old leader instincts were re-asserting themselves. _Action over talk._ Yeah, that at least, was the Red Ranger he remembered. "To the Power Rangers", Trent clinked his glass against Kira's. "To the Power Rangers", the team chorused, almost like old times at Hayley's.

Of course SPD would listen. How could they not?

* * *

"Blue, this is Yellow, do you copy? I need some long-range support here!", Elizabeth "Z" Delgado hurriedly dodged to the side, praying her message had gotten through, as the Krybot horde closed in. She raised her Deltamax Striker in a two-handed melee grip(trying to use the ranged mode this close was worse than useless), and swung it hard at the turning-too-slowly Krybot. It flew back at it's fellows, as the rest of them got oriented on the threat. Z swallowed hard, as Orangeheads leered at her(insofar as a robot could) while Blueheads got their cannon in position to wail on her from afar. The run-of-the-mill black bots moved into position to shield both types from her. It wasn't like she COULDN'T beat them alone, but it would take a better day than she was having now.

_We are a team, Tate, now get your sorry- _BLAST! A blue streak left a Bluehead in pieces as Z's radio crackled to life "Got you covered, Yellow. Initiate maneuver 42 and proceed to the retrieval point.". Then, a pause. "Go get 'em, Street Rat.". Z grinned. He HAD loosened up. Sorta. "Copy-", Z stopped for a moment to begin slamming aside the black bots, and suddenly had to duck the big ol' Orangehead sword at her head. Shit. "Blue, pick off the long-range stuff. I can handle the rest.". Handle it? She'd survived the streets of Newtech with most parts, ah, intact. Jerks with big toys were her bread and but-

_Ow._ Or well, not so easy. That sword packed a punch. She swung her Striker underhand to rip off Orange's chest armor, and rolled in to shove the metal object right up to his head. Quickly, before it could collapse, it she kicked off the metallic corpse to free her weapon faster and give her some lift over the horde. She landed on a nearby cliff – had to love these rock quarries – and grinned as Krybots, too stupid to realize the term "high ground", charged up at her. She went into a frenzy, smashing them down as fast they tried to swarm up. An arm off here, a headshot there, it made no difference. These boys were going down, now that she was hitting her stride. She calmly hit the floor on her belly as another Orange roared in at her. He stopped when a pair of yellow boots flew up from a too-fast handstand to knock his head half-off. _Too little weight-room time. Shoulda come off all the way._ A Striker remedied the issue, as she snatched up the cannon arm of another Kry to throw off his blast.

Which was the last one he got off before his arm was dislocated and it went down in a blue spark. All right. She was gonna win this. _Maneuver 42 THIS, Blondie_, she thought smugly. She didn't need a defensive drill. "Oh, yes you do. Now quit playing, and move to the extraction point". For a guy with a permanent stick up the ass, Sky was WAY too perceptive at times. "Fine, fine. You owe me an off-base dinner for this", she mock-grumbled into the suit mike. Extraction point was right there, cut a path of least resistance through the-

"Huh?". The rocks began vanishing, her own footing beginning to glow as it disappeared. "Simulation emergency override", a mechanical voice announced, as Z found herself in SPD Headquarters Danger Room. A few feet off, Sky Tate didn't look any happier than her to see the sim interrupted. "Bridge, if that's you fiddling again…", SPD Blue snapped in his best drill-sergeant tone, then cut off as someone quite different walked in. Katherine Manx, SPD's top analyst.

"Kat?", Z asked, puzzled. The doc's work was not given to inspiring emergencies, last she'd checked. "Sky. Z. Come on. I've pulled Jack, Bridge and Syd out of their classes. You guys need to see this.". Hm. A new toy? Syd, at least, would squee her head off. She loved that stuff. Z, on the other hand…. _Gimme a Striker, open ground, and outta my way._ She supposed nice things simply naturally took a back-seat with her in the value department. At least as opposed to the SPD princess.

It'd better be something good, whatever it was. She hated having her in-the-zone times interrupted.

* * *

Jack Landors, former thief, street champion, SPD Red, stared at Kat and Commander Cruger unbelievingly. "Please tell me they're joking". They had to be. No sane person was gonna file that kind of claim. Not even guys on drugs could be THAT stupid. "It appears to be a genuine claim, Cadet Landors. These five seem to be claiming the Dino Gems as their property.", Commander Cruger said, ever calm. "Sir, why is this B-Squad's problem? Just throw a copy of the Ranger Act at them.". That act specifically forbade any and all use of Ranger powers outside Galactic Alliance authorization(of which SPD was the sole conduit on Earth). It was a great way to clean up the sheer clutter of Ranger teams around known space.

And it shut up these kinds of crazies. Or at least it should have. "It is your _problem_, cadets, because they seem to know that Kat and Boom managed to re-power the Dino Gems. That was NOT common knowledge", Cruger glared at him. Well, maybe his tone had been a little out of line at that. But hey, screwballs walking up _demanding_ Ranger powers? That was just out of the blue. "Sir. Are you suggesting we made the leak?", Sky's stiffly formal, yet offended tone broke in. "I suggest nothing, Cadet Tate. But you five are the only ones who knew about the Gems and our research".

Weird. Jack doubted the big blue dog was suggesting they'd leaked the info. If Anubis "Doggie" Cruger thought _anyone_ was guilty of violating the SPD code of trust, they wouldn't be in a briefing room. They'd be ten feet underground, having gotten there through a physical pounding and maybe a few slams with the Sirian's beloved Shadow Saber. D.C didn't play games when it came to SPD. "So…. If we're not under suspicion, commander, then… what are we supposed to do?", Jack asked.

"You remain careful, Rangers. I doubt the claimants are the perpetrators behind this – likely this has reached the level of a street rumor. If a crack in our security leaked this, Grumm will find that crack sooner or later.", Cruger rumbled, his tone betraying his concern. As did his addressing them as fellow Rangers rather than cadets. So, yeah, that made sense. They weren't here to be chewed out. They were here because they were the only people Cruger trusted at the moment. The commander was worried because an unleakable secret – one known only to the B-Squad - had been leaked.

As Jack walked out the door, idly hoping he hadn't missed too many classes over this, he found himself grinning, despite the danger. Once in a while, it was nice to remember just how highly Cruger regarded them. Even if he did chew their asses out the rest of the time.

_Hope I do get my hands on these guys. If they know SPD secrets…_

Nah. Just a bunch of delusional losers who'd heard a rumor. That had to be all.

* * *

"Huh? What do you mean, denied! This request _can't_ be denied!", Kira Ford came very close to wailing at the telescreen. "I'm sorry, Miss Ford. Or rather, officially sorry. Unofficially, take your group of loonies and jump off a bridge before you guys pollute the gene pool. And read a little legislation.", the wiseass secretary smirked at her on-screen. "Even if you had used the Gems – in which case, I was the Brown Dino Thunder Ranger, remember me? – Ranger Act means the Gems are SPD property anyway.". Ranger Act? _I knew I should've kept in touch more._

After a not-too-veiled threat that SPD would be watching them from now on due to their having acquired this apparently Terribly Secret information, and an official invitation to contest the matter in court if she wished, the telescreen went blank. Kira considered letting her last spark of hope die with it. She knew it wasn't healthy, but dammit, they were so close! Who the hell did SPD think they were, restricting access like that!

"Kira? I heard some voices. What happened?", Tommy's voice came from behind her, emerging from the bathroom. Or what passed for a bathroom in the dingy flophouse the five of them had rented until they could conclude this business. "SPD… they….", Kira stuttered, still in shock. "They're not giving us the gems?", the former Black asked quietly. Kira nodded. She noticed that he didn't seem overly surprised by the news. Nevertheless, his face grew harder than she had ever seen it.

"Well, then….", Ethan got up from his mattress, grinning that discomforting grin of his again. "SPD's being jerks. Figured they'd do that. Always were."

"I guess we need to…", even Trent looked gut-punched by this bit of news. She'd have figured him to take the pain best of them all. Then again…. _He convinced himself he didn't need this hope. Now that he realizes he does…_ He'd be more obsessed by it than any of them. All or nothing, that was her high-school boyfriend.

"We all know, man. Question is – are we all ready?", Conner stood tall, getting up from his mattress quickly. He seemed to have revived his old spirit in honor of the Gems' return. Like it had never been gone, just buried.

And of course, they were all ready. They all nodded silently, committing themselves to the task.

It wasn't right for SPD to control the gems like that. The Gems were theirs, hers! If those dog-badge-wearing pricks weren't gonna give them up, well….

_We'll just have to take them back. And if SPD gets in our way… they'd just better not._


	4. Sparks

A/N: FINALLY got around to the last set-up chapter. Sorry for the delay.

* * *

There were times, Grumm decided, when he believed in an unseen omniscient power running the universe. Usually, even after meeting Great Omni(the Patellen suppressed a twitch of awe, as he always did when thinking The Name), he'd scorned such things. _Fools. It must be easier to serenely surrender control of your fate than to create it yourself. _However, with how the universe seemed to be bending itself to his will lately, he wondered if such things could legitimately NOT be attributed to providence.

For starters, his little farce with the Dino Gems had gone perfectly. He hadn't even had to stage a fake attack to convince SPD of their authenticity. The easiest thing in the world, it had been, to just bury them under debris that could be attributed to the mid-2015 Earth Invasion(an attempt by several former Alliance Of Evil fools to raid the Galactic hotbed of Ranger powers. Which had ironically led to the Galactic Alliance formally sponsoring an Earth branch for SPD). And the idiots had fallen for it. SPD had taken those gems into their custody, serenely attempting to decipher them with no particular rush. He had no doubt Dr. Manx's team would eventually do what his scientists could not. Given time.

Time being the resource he needed them to waste, if his plans were to succeed. SPD's interference at this juncture could cause all to fall apart. Quite apart from the subtle surprise he'd embedded in the Gems, he had several backup plans. If the fools failed to act, he could unleash a few of his preliminary fruits to keep them off balance. Yes, it would work. _They will be blinded, until it makes no difference._

"Release me!", an elderly human's voice snapped. Grumm turned around to behold Anton Mercer, former CEO of Mercer Industries. Also holder of much useful knowledge that Grumm found necessary. Some of which he had already surrendered without much incentive. The man was, of course, held by a pair of Orange-heads who had orders to escort him to their master.

"And why should I wish to do that? You have not given me all the information I requested.". What did the fool hope to accomplish with that tone?

"I gave you all I can. And you're being a fool with one of the things you're asking for.", the man said, with more dignity than Grumm would have been willing to grant a being getting on in years. Especially one not especially formidable to begin with. It might even be amusing, he supposed, to break him. He'd almost been disappointed that it hadn't been necessary at the beginning.

"_Maybe_ Warlord Grumm hasn't made himself clear…", Morgana's voice broke in as she sauntered into the chamber. "He pointed out that he'd requested your help thus far. Might have led you to think it would stay a request.".

"A matter…", Grumm inwardly grinned as he put his face close to Mercer's, and allowed his retinas to begin giving off a red glow many species found intimidating. "That will change shortly."

Mercer went pale as a _sheefrit_ on it's maximum solar distance. Well. This might not be so great a challenge after all.

* * *

"So… how DO we get in?", Kira asked as the team sat around a table(having decided such meetings merited more dignity than mattress lounging). "I mean, it's SPD. I doubt their big stuff is gonna be lying out in the open.". It was meant more to open the meeting than to convey anything.

"Shouldn't be a problem", Conner said confidently. "You think it could be any heavier guarded than Mesogog's old fortress? We blew that security, we'll blow this one. Nothing to it". That was infinitely more confidence, Kira figured, than he actually had. Conner's leader instincts were back in full flower, and he seemed to figure he should be leading by example. _Of course, he also had a big ego back in the old days. Maybe he **does** believe it'll be that easy._ She supposed the whole quandary came with the Red Ranger territory.

"Somehow, I don't see SPD as having Invisiportals.", Trent's voice was dry. "Or inviting me in to hold the door open.". Conner flushed. "What we need to do is figure out where the Gems are being kept. Maybe, I don't know, Kira can break a wall to wherever that is with her sonic scream. We grab them, run-"

"I can't. Maybe I can crack one, but I'm not THAT good Trent", the former Yellow Ranger interjected. The thought was tempting, but she knew the upper limits of her ability. Any metal, especially the grade of it SPD was likely to use, would merely gain dents from even her best sonic wave. Then, she realized the perfect way.

"Why are we even talking about this? We've got Dr. O and Trent. Dr. O can just sneak in with his invisibility and open a-"

"Yeah, because SPD would _never_ have commonly-available body-heat sensors to cover that issue. Y'know, invisibility being such a rare ability and all. Shit for that's been around since 2010, Guitar-girl.", Ethan snapped. "Look, we're never gonna be able to get into the building by sneaking in. SPD's got sensors out the wazoo on every entrance and exit, video cameras in every hall. I say we go in there, smash a few newbie cadets and-"

"Powers or not, we're still _Rangers_, Ethan", Tommy(as he had encouraged them to call him shortly after their graduation. None of them had gotten used to it) put in with a shadow of his old dignity, while holding up a hand to forestall Conner. "We want to do this with minimal casualties to SPD. They're still the good guys, even with all this.". True enough, Kira supposed. They had Rangers and all supposedly, so yeah, that was pretty much a given. _They shouldn't hold the Gems like that, though. _

"Look guys, let's list what abilities we have that SPD wouldn't expect from us. We have our powers. So yeah, Ethan says Dr. O's invisibility isn't as useful as we'd like, but still. We've got two guys who can hide in some areas, a sonic scream that can distract and smash some stuff at least, one guy who can run faster than a blur, and two arms that can double as baseball bats. That's gotta be worth something, if we can figure out how.", Conner said, apparently trying to stop Ethan from making an angry reply to Dr. O. "Besides, we've got the world's oldest, greatest Ranger here", at this point he stopped to gesture at their former high-school teacher, who smiled distantly, "and we can pretty much pinpoint the Gem's location if we get close enough.".

"And we're both brilliant and desperate. And we're right, too, that's important right there", Kira said, trying to inject some humor in. "What was it, Dr. O? That you told us you said to Mesogog, way back when? 'Good guys always win'?"

"Covers us pretty well", Trent grinned hugely. Everyone laughed.

* * *

Tommy looked out the window, staring at the SPD insignia, visible from any point in Newtech City. Funny that that particular incident should be brought up. He made no reply, allowed Conner to commence laying out the beginnings of a plan.

_Right now, I'm thinking of what Mesogog had to say to that._

"**_I suppose that all depends…. on who you believe the good guys to be"_**.

* * *

Syd yawned hugely. It had been a long, tiring day for the B-Squad. While Grumm had been mysteriously quiet lately, there'd been a sudden influx of the more common day-to-day scum to deal with. Not Krybots, but not fun either. On top of that, their teachers had not seen fit to slacken their pace of teaching for them, meaning the five of them had to pull way-too-long homework periods in lieu of their standard after-battle wind-down. Add that to her having to calm her roommate's anxiety about Omega Ranger(a Ranger from the future distantly attached to their squad. The "distant" part being mostly because his past self was Z's pet D-level cadet, Sam) being sent off to the Tau sector to investigate a disturbance, and you got one exhausted Pink Ranger.

_Could be worse. At least Cruger's not in one of his moods. _Ever since that meeting a week ago about the Dino-Gem leak, SPD's Earth Commander had been curiously lenient on their training regimen, probably figuring they had enough to deal with. Or had relegated them to insignificant in the face of this threat, of course. The Shadow Ranger had been conducting his investigation into the leak with a furious energy that seemed to leave no room for other matters. Any conversations not containing useful information on the matter were likely to be ended in short order by one of the Sirian's trademark growls.

Which of the two was right, she had no idea. Nor could she summon up the energy to care. About anything, for that matter, aside from her bed. Brushing off the usual amount of debris that both her bed and Z's seemed to accumulate over the course of a day, she threw herself on the mattress, just as SPD Yellow emerged from their bathroom(not having to use the common cadet's facilities was one of the perks of being B-Squad).

"Looks like someone's bedtime", her roommate smirked from the other side of the room. "Princess didn't get her beauty rest today". Syd was too tired to take offense even if she had thought Z was serious. "Hey, look at it this way – things could be worse. At least clean-up duty was light today. I seriously thought we'd have to mop vomit after those druggies got loose in the lobby."

_Huh?_ Oh, right. Middle-aged woman in a yellow trenchcoat, started stumbling around the academy, babbling incomprehensibly. She'd actually made it as far as Kat's lab before building security had grabbed her. She'd gotten all violent then, screaming and lashing out at the guards. One even claimed she'd thrown something at them, but they'd not found anything in the corridor, nor had security scans turned up anything significant.

Another old black man had grumbled and muttered his way up to the second-floor public bathrooms. _Almost diametrically opposed to the woman's direction. Weird._ He hadn't gotten violent, but he had lurched around a lot when the guards had ejected him.

Ah, well. Both had been given the numbers of rehabilitation centers, and they hadn't gotten anywhere not public. No harm, no foul.

"Not in the mood, Z. Can we just call it a night?", Syd groaned.

"Sure. As soon as you move off my bed."

Syd sheepishly looked at the yellow sheets where she was lying. Oops.

_If Grumm tries anything tonight, I'll rip up his goons with my bare hands. Just on general crankiness._

* * *

Sky Tate was awake in an instant, as the piercing shrill of the alarm hit his ears. Diving from his bed in one smooth motion, hand-generated force-field flying to the door, he went for his sidearm, saw his roommate immediately begin a telepathic scan of the area. Both were practiced in midnight drills. _Right. **Now** Cruger decides to throw one on us._ Sky was all for random drills to increase awareness, but today was just ridiculous, and the boss had to know it. Especially after such a lo-

"Sky!", Bridge said in his slightly detached way. "That's not a drill alarm. That's a base alarm. Intruder. We gotta get the others". SPD Green was, of course, correct. A drill alarm would've been out by now. "Computer, intruder location!"

"B-Squad, report to level 3, corridor 6. NOW!", Jack's voice roared from their morphers on the emergency frequency.

As they rushed through suddenly-filled corridors, Sky's mind began to race, wondering who the intruder was and what they could want. This was an INTRUDER alert, not a general battle one. Scratch the surprise attack idea. If this was a burglary attempt, they'd screwed the pooch rather badly, hadn't they? All exits guarded, everyone alerted. Besides, most of SPD's most valuable objects were off-planet. And even Bridge couldn't crack Kat's best firewalls. Sabotage? Possible. What was in that area, anyway? As Sky skidded to a halt between Z and Syd, Bridge falling in line to their left, the answer became immediately apparent.

"A bathroom. Someone just intruded into the fucking BATHROOM", Z growled. Right. This was public area during the daytime, the restrooms. What the hell? Contrary to holo-vid myths, the bathrooms had no special access to the vents or open pipes or any of the rest of that nonsense. Now that he looked harder, though, the walls were cracked a bit.

"Yeah, Z. A bathroom. Maybe a bomb or something that went off course. Boom says the alarm detected huge reverberations through the walls consistent with high-speed running. Looking at the damage here", Jack gestured around, "I'd say our guy dropped his package early and ran. Z, you come with me, we're sweeping north. Sky, Syd, sweep south. Bridge, you go to the security center, try to-"

"Doukalishan Constructs", Bridge read off the wall inscription. "Sky, what metal do they use?"

_What!_

Bridge was in one of his damned weird streaks again. This was SO not the time.

"What METAL do they use? Come on, this is important!"

Sky looked at Jack. They simultaneously suppressed a sigh.

* * *

_Bruloan_. Amazing how such a short word could lead to so much. A simple sonic frequency check, matched to the frequency of the materials that made up SPD's main walls, and you had utter confusion. The violence of the harmonic wave was calculated to cause a panic AND damage. Though the panic was far in excess of the damage. Even matched on a recorder at maximum volume, Kira's sonic wave posed little threat to SPD security….

_Except when thrown near an electronic lock, to crack it past uselessness. Or in a direction diametrically opposed to that lock, leading everyone too far away to do any good. _Conner grinned. He'd laid out the tactics, Ethan the techno-skills. Trent and Dr. O were the inside intelligence, scouting to make sure the way was clear.

There. There the Gems lay, on a table in the middle of the recently unsecured lab. The gift of a lifetime. _The curse of a lifetime._ The purpose of life. _The scourge of our lives. _ For a moment, they all stood in awe, unbelieving that the moment had come, that the Gems were there for the taking.

Only for a moment, though, as they all rushed forward to claim their prizes. Conner snatched up the Red Dino Gem, felt the power course through him. _Yes._ Power lost in a moment of weakness, a moment that would not come again, power regained.. His second chance, his new life. Lost to his thoughts, for several seconds, Conner McKnight knew euphoria.

Several seconds that terminated in a cold official voice saying "That's far enough. Put em' down".

* * *

The five burglars wheeled around in union, staring at the recently arrived B-Squad. Jack allowed himself a smirk. _Thought you were sooooo smart, boys? _To be fair, if it hadn't been for Bridge's brainwave about how the metal could easily be used as a distraction, they might've been just smart enough. But hey, that was luck, and that was the B-Squad. His Green Ranger hadn't been hired for nothing.

"Y'know, Sky, I don't think these geniuses heard you. Put. Them. DOWN. You're backed up against solid walls, and believe me, you don't want to mess with us"

The yellow-clad woman(attractive, if a bit on the old-and-heavy side) spoke up. "You have no idea who you're dealing with. Out of our way". While her voice was hardly authorative, it carried a tough steel behind it, though one supported by desperation. Great. Not just a lunatic, but one at the end of their rope. This would NOT end well. And none of the other four made any move to contradict her.

"Look", the SPD Red Ranger attempted to draw on some of the diplomatic lessons Cruger had insisted he undergo, "There's obviously been…. Some kind of mistake here. Just put the Gems down, and we can talk about it."

"No mistake, Officer Friendly. These Gems are OURS, YOU stole them, and we're leaving. Anything that stops that gets pounded. Hard.", the black guy snapped. And grinned. Or at least showed his teeth. That was goddamned ENOUGH. These psychos had gotten his squad out of bed to bluster and make empty threats? Screw that. Enough diplomacy.

"OK, your way. Hand over the Gems before someone gets hurt".

Bridge pushed forward. "Jack's so vague at times, y'know? Half the time, I don't get him. See, he said SOMEONE might get hurt. Not that that's not true, but see, he didn't mean SOMEONE. OK, he did but….", Bridge paused for breath. Jack looked at the crazies. They appeared as confused he was. Scratch THAT hope of understanding B-Squad's third-in-command.

"He meant you, more specifically. Or at least I think he did. I mean, if he meant us, he wouldn't say it out loud. And we're the only people here. Aside from you.", Bridge concluded. The tall guy in front opened his mouth to say something. Z cut him off "Forget it. You can figure it out on the way to your cells."

"Those Gems are SPD property", Sky snapped in a cold voice, apparently feeling the discussion had been sidetracked. "They belong to us, to the government. Not to private citizens. Now-"

"There's two things you guys need to learn about Dino Gems", the tall guy(red shirt, Jack noticed) smirked, of all things.

"One. You can't choose them - ", the yellow girl began.

"They choose you", a Hispanic man clad all in white finished.

Syd looked bored by the recitation. "Fine", the Pink Ranger sighed tiredly. "I'll bite. What's the other, before we haul you in?"

Black guy grinned his grin again, while bringing up his wrist. Jack tensed, but no weapon came out. Instead, a metal bracelet appeared on the guy's wrist, with a little model of a Triceratops on the front. As Jack watched, similarly themed bracelets appeared on the other four loonies. "They go real well with Dino Morphers", Black said in a predatory voice.

Morphers. Jack heard a quickly stifled snort behind him. Those toy things? He almost pitied them. OK, that was enough. He began gesturing to his squad to grab them – gently.

In a flash, the five brought the Gems to their wrists, slamming them _into_ the bracelets, which seemed to swallow them. Before anyone could stop them, they yelled out simultaneously "Dino Thunder, Power Up!", while triggering something on the models.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the figures dissolved into white light.

* * *

Tommy felt the power, and found it not familiar at all. Oh yes, the sensations were familiar – the sudden fire exploding over his body, savage action exploding into his mind, his body seemingly becoming anything he wanted. Viewing the world once more through a helmet, THAT was familiar, of course. But the overall feeling….

The lack of helplessness. The ability to solve any problem, merely by deciding to do so. The laws of reality becoming recommendations. None was true, yet it was all a part of the power. He'd taken it for granted before – how much did a teenager now about helplessness? Always thought THEY were the world. And later, he'd been far more disciplined, far more controlled. He'd not allowed the power to dominate him.

But now…. The years had eroded at his restraint, and he allowed the Power to course through him, filling him with it's whispering song. _You're invincible, _the song said. _No one has ever been able to beat you! You're the best there ever was! Kill them! Kill them!_

No. Not kill. Tommy snatched back his restraint, before the feeling overwhelmed him. Didn't look like it would even come down to a fight. The five cadets, he supposed they were, stared at them open mouthed. The blonde girl who'd baited Kira had dissolved into hysterics, snatching at the black guy(seemingly the leader).

"Oh my God! Power Rangers! PowerRangers, powerrangers…. OH MY GOD! Jack, what're we gonna do? How can we fight them! We can't! Jack, we need to surrender…."

Tommy smiled. He was glad there'd be no need to deal with these kids. They could just walk out of-

It was then, in the flash of a second, that Tommy Oliver noticed three very terrible things:

One – The blonde had gone into far too exaggerated hysterics. Typically, they came with a quiet forerunning, before exploding into screams. As a matter of fact, THESE hysterics were remarkably low-pitched, attention-drawing though they were.

Two – The blonde was neatly concealing the leader's torso from view, but Tommy could see rectangular devices hanging from the waists of the other three. Devices they seemed poised to draw.

Three – All five cadets were dressed in non-standard uniforms. While possessed of the same basic style, they alternated SPD grey with a strip of color. A different strip of color each, all basic solids.

_Oh. No._

"Or Syd, we could just say…."

"SPD EMERGENCY!"


	5. Blaze I

A/N: Fight scenes are evil to write. Real life, too, is evil. But both together can't stop me from... eventually... managing to get a new chapter out. Enjoy. 

Dr. O had commented to them more than once that Murphy had probably been a Ranger. Until now, Conner had always figured that to be a joke. But now? Nooooooooo, it wasn't enough to get caught on a simple, near-foolproof break-in, of course. _No, we have to fucking walk RIGHT INTO SPD's elite Ranger squad..._ Rumored to have quite a list of exploits to their name in their as-yet young career, and thus far total success at containing whatever dumbass galactic scum had decided Earth was worth conquering this time around.

If he didn't survive this, Conner decided, he'd be up with whatever deities had created the universe. At which point he was going to find the one which controlled Ranger luck and-

"Let's make this one simple for you guys, since y'all seem a bit dim. We're pros. YOU got lucky with stolen morphers. That you were overcharged for, by the way, they're fugly", SPD Red's voice lowered to a whisper. "So POWER DOWN RIGHT THE HELL NOW!!!!!!", he roared, making everyone jump. "You just crossed a major line in terms of pissing us off, AND added several extra charges to the count. I'll tell you right now, though, it gets a lot worse to add 'assault upon SPD personnel' to the list". Red's voice got more furious with every word.

Conner's mind raced, trying to think, balancing aggression with caution. Then, a single fact presented itself with complete clarity in his mind: _We surrender, we lose the Gems_. Unthinkable. Besides, he'd seen the smug looks on the squad's face as they'd walked in. Young, successful, on top of the world, heroes before they were twenty. Just for that, he hated them. He didn't need a telepath to know the team felt likewise.

"Say, kid, what's with the big numbers on the chests? SPD forget to teach you how to count?"

* * *

Jack's face reddened beneath the mask. "Grab them, people. And I'm not particular about gently". Jack advanced on Dino Red, and was barely aware of the Ranger hurling at him, into him and past him in one smooth motion, knocking him over. Jack twisted on his way down, getting up turned around, in time to watch the Dino Thunders rushing out the door. They no doubt thought they'd get out the front entrance before anyone could stop them.

This assumption was based on a complete lack of passages to the roof or ground in Kat's lab. Several seconds later, he led his team to the rooftop, where the poser-Rangers could be sighted just running out. "Right. Bridge, take Blue, Sky take Black. They're more your builds. Syd, take White. Z... well, figure it out. Let's make this quick and clean... NOW!", Jack leaped off the rooftop, yelling a battle cry as he hit the ground perfectly oriented, in front of the Dino Thunders.

"Going somewhere?"

"Sure", Dino Red snarled. "Were you planning to stop that somehow?", he asked as he lunged at Jack. Jack didn't waste his breath on replying, as he saw the battle being joined all around him. He swatted aside a reverse punch aimed at his chest, attempting a kick to the abdomen that was blocked. He waited for his opponent's next blow, a right hook, caught it, grabbed the guy's other arm and attempted to come in with a knee strike.

Dino Red launched off the ground before it landed, jumping over Jack's head, arms still entwined. He twisted as he landed, tangling their arms further. Before Jack could get oriented on the enemy at his back, he felt a kick to the knee, and then a knee to the head, driving him into the dirt and forcing the release of his grip.

Before Red could capitalize, Jack instinctively rolled to the side and kicked out with his right leg, warding off Red's follow up. He jumped to his feet in a defensive position, eyeing his opponent with an increased respect. "Nice trick. For a rookie", he grinned, and charged in. As Red sent a kick at him, Jack dodged, and jumped into a leg-twist, grabbing the opponent's balancing leg between his two, and twisted. As he disengaged, he saw Red sprawl down unceremoniously in the concrete. Red somersaulted backwards before Jack could move, however, landing on his feet.

"'Rookie'?", Red said mockingly. "You're an ignorant bunch, aren't you?"

Jack lunged.

* * *

Kira eyed her opponent appraisingly, trying to size her up. Before much of that could be done, however, SPD Yellow charged in at her. Kira flipped back, trying to avoid closing the distance. She hated grappling in her fights. As a punch came in, she grabbed it by the wrist and sent her opponent to the ground with a simple throw.

Or would have, at least, had Yellow not easily stayed on balance, closed the distance, and elbowed her in the neck with a free hand. She followed it up with a punch to the throat. Kira staggered back, breath lost for a second. She blocked the next punch, twisting the arm to keep her opponent back, and kicked her in the gut.

It was Yellow's turn to stumble back, and Kira followed up with a flurry of punches. She felt them all being blocked, and then saw her wrist was caught. Kira kicked straight up, breaking the grip. Before the Dino Ranger could even bring her leg down, however, she was aware of Yellow slamming into her, knocking her off balance to the ground.

Kira got back on her feet fast, but not fast enough. SPD Yellow collapsed on top of her, straddled her arms and pinned her down. "Gotcha", Yellow smirked. _No you don't, bitch..._

With Ranger strength, she bent impossibly far at the waist, sending her legs to hook in her opponent's arms, pinning her back, and preventing the weight of her body from settling on Kira's arms. Both women jumped away from each other's now-loosened grips. SPD lunged in, attempting to close once more. This time, however, she came slightly too fast, and Kira delivered a short punch to the ribs, which elicted not so much as a grunt, nor the slight retreat she'd been anticipating.

Instead, SPD grabbed her by the neck and by her weapon belt, and threw her down to the ground, a place she was quickly wearying of, on her front. Before this could lead to a stomp on the spine, she rolled to the right, catching the girl in her leg and sending her to the ground as well.

Yellow inclined her head as she got up. "Nice recovery. But you've just taught me something real important here"

"What?"

"You don't like close combat. Which means you're bad at it. And, news flash, lady: It's my specialty. Time for some pain"

Kira dodged back.

* * *

_This guy doesn't crack!_, Sky thought frantically, as his Black-clad opponent calmly countered each and every one of his maneuvers. There'd been no taunting, no belligerence, just straightforward combat from both sides. This guy seemed to believe he was a pro. Time to break from the standards, if he wanted to rattle him. Sky initiated a straightforward set of punches at his opponent, a vanilla drill, hoping the illusion of predictability would hold.

As Dino Black began to block, always keeping in a balanced stance with no especial weakness, Sky grimaced. He'd hoped to move the guy's focus off-center before doing this. No choice. He faked his next low jab…. and jump-kicked off a nearby pillar, hoping to get a flying headshot in. SPD Blue was astonished to find his arm grabbed, and himself being thrown against the wall.

Sky reflexively kicked off before he could hit the wall, coming back at his opponent, going for the torso. Black suddenly dropped to the floor, grabbed Sky by _his _torso, and slammed him into the pillar, back first. Sky winced, the pillar was stone, and the slam had Ranger strength behind it. The Blue Ranger lay in a heap. As he got up, he saw Black waiting quietly in a defensive stance. _This guy's worked my last nerve…_

Sky bull-rushed his opponent, head-butting him straight in his guard. As a surprised Ranger fell back, off-balance, Sky followed up by closing, elbowing Black in the neck, and grabbing his arm with a free hand. He quickly got in a stomach shot with his knee, and twisted the man's arm behind his back, reaching for his other arm. This was done. He'd restrain him and wait for backup to demorph this prick.

"You have the right to-"

Suddenly, in an instant, Black Ranger had turned the tables, releasing Sky's grip and establishing his own. Before Sky could respond, he felt his wrist being yanked in a direction wrists were _not _meant to be yanked in, and saw a kick rushing at him, two, three kicks, gut, chest, helmet. He went flying back as Black Ranger released the grip.

"Nice try, kid. Back off before I hurt you".

Sky staggered back, shaking his head quickly to clear it, while bringing up his guard. Surprisingly, Black was actually waiting for him to "back off", not pushing the advantage. _He'll regret that_. He faked a charge, hoping to and succeeding in drawing a punch.

Rather than block it, he grabbed it, yanked his opponent forward, then pushed him back while sweeping the leg at the back of the knee joint. Black Ranger folded on the ground. Sky quickly followed up with a harsh hammer blow to the chest. Not as damaging as it would be to an unmorphed opponent, but still painful. His follow-up was interrupted by Black kicking him in the chest with one foot, and wrapping his knee with the other, in essence duplicating Sky's earlier maneuver.

Sky allowed himself to fall back….. then braced with his arms in time to support a kick that caught Black Ranger just below the helmet, with a satisfying CRACK. As the pseudo-Ranger staggered back, Sky came up in a defensive stance, waiting for his opponent to make the next move.

"I see humility doesn't set in as you reach…. old age"

He could swear Black was smiling beneath the helmet before he jumped forward.

"…. Old age?"

Sky brought up his next block just in time.

* * *

Ethan glared daggers at the Green-suited kid in his way. He considered telling him to move. For all of five seconds. _I don't want this kid out of my way. I want him on the floor, begging to never, ever be in my way again. _

"Y'know, that was a pretty good plan you guys had. I mean, you would've been ID'd from your auras even if we hadn't caught you on the spot, but the distraction was nice"

Their WHAT?!

"Oh yeah, I can, uh, read auras. Your brain leaves stuff behind everywhere, and I can see it. How don't YOU? I mean, everyone's so…. sloppy with that. They'll cover fingerprints and all, and leave their brain, the best ID there is, on the scene. Really kinda weird when you think about it. You really can't tell that you're…. leaking? All over the place…."

Dino Blue was NOT in the mood for incoherent crap._ Oh, to hell with it._ He went for the ThunderMax blaster at his waist, intending to shoot the kid down in mid-babble. He had barely brought the gun up before a white-gloved hand snatched at it, twisting the gun upward and grabbing it away from him smoothly.

Before he could respond, he was aware of abdominal pain, and went back wheezing. At which point his brain caught up with events, and realized his oddball opponent had switched from verbal spewage to action faster than he could draw a pistol.

"Like right now? I felt a bit of rage and homicidal intentions. See what I mean about sloppy? Oh, you're getting madder now. You should probably see a therapist for that once you get your cell organized back in HQ. SPD's got some pretty good-"

_That insolent little piece of…_

Ethan silenced his opponent with a nice sucker punch, remembering just in time to make it a jab instead of a right hook, which would just bounce off the helmet. It was SPD Green's turn to stagger back, and Ethan capitalized on it, whacking the jaw again with an uppercut, and following with a full power punch to the torso, just below the rib cage. He heard a gasp from his opponent from that one.

His kick to the groin was caught by the kid, twisted and sent to the floor in a move Dr. O had derided once as the mother of all novice maneuvers. Green then suddenly came in for a stomp-

_OW_

Turnabout might be fair play. In this case, it was also painful. Ethan quickly decided to move the kid's attention elsewhere. Kicking him in the chest to release the leg Green still held, Ethan quickly rolled away and got up. The little prick was gonna PAY for that…..

"I doubt that. Unless you've got SPD training, I think I've got an advantage. Not like you couldn't be a good amateur and all, but what're the odds? That you'd be a street crazy who's good at fighting? I mean-"

Ethan attempted another shot, but Green calmly ducked, charged in and snatched Ethan up by the waist with Ranger strength, flipping a surprised Blue Ranger onto his back. Not too surprised to sweep his opponent's outstretched leg, however, bringing the SPD officer to the ground as well. They both grabbed at each other preventing the other from rising.

"Y'know, cheap shots only work when I'm not paying attention. Kind of dumb to try them more than once. You're just sloppy all over, huh?"

"Junior, you haven't even gotten me started yet"

* * *

Despite the situation, Syd couldn't help but think "nice design" when looking at White Ranger's costume. The red stripes really complemented the helmet and-

Right. Bad guy. Or at least street crazy with Ranger powers. Who was charging in at her, no subtleties. SPD Pink neatly side-stepped the initial charge, going in for a quick punch to the rib cage before backing off. As White turned to her, she avoided his next punch, hopping back out of range. A quick chop to his neck and she was back on the defensive, backing off from the response. She hadn't slowed him down yet, but that was all right. _He_ was the guy in a hurry here, not her. So long as she could stop him from leaving, that was enough. He'd panic, do something stupid and she'd have him.

"Gee, the nimble martial artist is dodging the big thug. Is this the part where I scratch my head and head-butt you?". White Ranger's voice was abnormally deep. Weird. And more than a little disturbing.

She came in with a perfect high kick to the neck, hoping to swat him a little harder for that comment. White Ranger ducked under, came forward and sent her into an improvised cartwheel to stay off the floor. She brought up her guard, knowing he was pushing her mistake for all it was worth. While that was enough to block his initial punch, he then just SNATCHED at her guard, yanked it aside and kneed her hard in the ribs. Syd backed off, a little more frantic. This guy was not nearly as blind as he looked.

OK, the psychological advantage had been lost, she could either get in his face or let him go. He wasn't going to be afraid of her. Time for plan B, which suited the "SPD Princess" fine. She charged straight at her opponent, breaking away from his guard at the last minute to hit him in the neck, hard this time. Rather than back off, she went lower with a kick to the kidneys, eliciting a satisfying THWACK. As he reached for her, she backed off for an instant before grabbing his outstretched hand, twisting the arm setting it up for a very painful kick. It wouldn't break bones, not through a Ranger suit, but it would hurt. Suddenly, she felt the pressure slack as she realized she'd been too slow. White Ranger closed, grabbed her by the neck and yanked her away from his arm.

_Merde_. Up close, all the advantages belonged to the bigger guy. She had to get out. Now. She brought her heel into a backwards instep, hitting the groin. White's grip was released. Instantly. Syd quickly backed off, being careful to stay between him and the exit to the courtyard. OK, fighting on a half-night's sleep after a bad day wasn't optimal.

Yelling, she charged forward at him, hoping the unusual tactic would disorient. She readied a punch, a nice wind-up punch to the chest that would have all the force of her charge behind it. White, unfazed, ran at her in a similar fashion. _We'll see who beats who_. They closed, swung….

And Syd found herself flying backwards, literally, both feet off the ground. Approximately 3 meters later, she was re-acquainted with said ground. Hard. Looking up, she saw White Ranger standing coolly, hardly moved. SPD Pink shivered inwardly at his glance. Felt vaguely…. violating.

_OK. Let's not do that again._

* * *

_Not bad for a newbie_, Conner thought. OK, better than him, considering the years it had been since he'd put on the Red Ranger suit. But what kept tripping up the kid was that he tried to take down Conner like a common thug, meaning a variety of maneuvers designed to flashily intimidate, not for effectiveness. Not very useful against a skilled opponent. No doubt SPD training didn't include much on other Rangers. Not surprising considering how hard SPD had worked to bring all Ranger powers into their custody.

Suddenly, Dino Red was aware of the other Red Ranger drawing two pistols from their waist holsters. Crap.

"Delta Blasters!", SPD Red yelled as he triggered rapid-fire on the weapons, laser blasts impacting Conner. Quickly and painfully. "C'mon, man. Out of tricks or quips? Cause my patience for your sorry ass is ENDED." He looked a lot more confident now, on his own ground.

Conner dodged to the right before his opponent could get off another volley, thought process racing. For a moment, he considered drawing his own blaster, but decided against it. SPD was obviously good with those guns, and moving the battle to his specialty might be… bad. Which left one other weapon in the suit's arsenal.

Dino Thunder Red stopped dodging and jumped forward, straight into his opponent's next volley. As he did so, he summoned his own personal weapon, and thrust it straight out to impact a surprised SPD Red in the chest.

"Tyranno Staff!"

As SPD Red fell back, Conner exploited the surprise, knowing another crack like this wouldn't be forthcoming. If his opponent backed off to gun range again, he'd regain the advantage. Conner swung the Staff at SPD, catching him across the chest with the Tyranno-head repeatedly. The one with sharp, Ranger-suit-penetrating teeth. He'd had to eat blows from that staff from more than one monster, and it was not fun. The kid stumbled back satisfyingly, rubbing his chest.

He kept up a steady volley of swings, not letting up, knowing that that mattered more than any appreciable damage. He had to DISARM his opponent, that was primary. And not give him a chance to recover in the meantime. Maybe drive him toward a wall and wail away, at least make him throw away the guns to defend himself.

Ah, there was the wall now. They'd gotten there rather fast-

_Uh oh._

SPD kicked off the nearby wall, over Conner's head, landed about a foot off, and brought up his pistols while backing off at a run, opening up all that distance Conner had been so eager to close. Dino Thunder Red inwardly cursed as he dodged from the expected retaliation…. Then an idea occurred to him. If he liked psychological tricks…..

* * *

Jack grinned as he managed to get Dino Red in his sights. That had been close and all, but the idiot had failed to realize what a pro could do in a Ranger suit. _Time to end this crap. _Jack squeezed the trigger, letting bolts loose...

To impact against Dino Red's staff. Again. And again. The guy was managing to... block his shots? The hell? Nobody was that fast.

_A shame Star Wars is before the current generation, else this kid would REALLY be shitting himself..._

Of course, Conner wasn't actually fast enough to block laser bolts. Ranger reflexes weren't faster-than-light, after all. But if he could simply match the angle of his staff to that of SPD's thrust-out wrists, he could block a few shots. At least enough for the kid to gape long enough for Conner to close again...

_Ah_

He was close now, and had gotten there quickly enough that SPD's arms were still extended. Time to disarm this prick. Conner hit his opponent's wrists from beneath with the Staff, sending the pistols flying into the air, and the Staff in the kid's hands. The kid stumbled back with his new weapon, as Conner jumped back and smoothly snatched the pistols out of the air on his way down.

He quickly squeezed off a volley, amused to see SPD attempting to block with the Staff, before a stray bolt to the wrist made him drop it.

* * *

From his command screens, Commander Anubis Cruger watched the whole scene unfold.

Watched his handpicked B-Squad confront the burglars.

Watched them not be run down by professionals like the scum they were within five seconds.

Watched a simple arrest turn into an all-out five-way duel.

And finally, watched his squad's leader fall, demorphed, to his own weapons. He watched as Jack's counterpart came up to him, kicking his morpher out of his hand, sending it skittering across the courtyard, and shooting it into a pile of scrap.

As Cruger watched, a growl beginning to form in his throat, Dino Red walked away, demorphing, then suddenly turning into a blur as he ran off, away from HQ, into the city. No doubt exulting over his prize.

_Apparantly I underestimated the danger here..._

Time to correct that problem. Cruger hit the general battle alarm, to signal cadets to their stations. He then picked up his morpher, and headed for the door.


End file.
